Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Saturday, January 15, 2011

When India displayed a spirited performance against Bahrain in their second match in the Asia cup football in Qatar, one of the commentators of the star sports said that India being with no football history has earned respect with the performance, although they eventually lost the match by 5 goals to 2. Indian football has miles and miles to go even if they have to reach an Asian standard. The football federation and the sports ministry cannot sit too long for the eggs to hatch. A strong program with the help of corporate sponsorship is the need of the hour that would develop football standards of the country. Why doesn’t the big corporates who throw exorbitant amount of money on IPL teams contribute a small share of it to the growth of the game of football in this country? Mahindra and Mahindra and Zee sports is doing its part, who else is doing? India has enough and more in Cricket. India is the no.1 test-playing nation. It is second best in the 50-50 version by ICC ranking. The other sports should be taken care off too. Cricket has grown on its own, but it should help the other sports like football that is widely followed in the world. The football federation is slow and lethargic. It needs to wake up and act immediately!!

Saturday, January 1, 2011

After Rajas and Radias, every day a new crop of swindlers and perfidious people are coming into the media glare. Lets see a few of them.

1.NRI power brokers

There is a horde of rags to rich Indian milliionaires who emerged in the 80’s and 90’s in the Middle East. A good chunk of them came from such a destitute background and low education that even now when we see them on TV or in a public forum, we tend to wonder as to how such naïve looking people did achieve the kind of success they are attributed to. Most of them soared to these heights by licking the chappals of the sheikhs and by safeguarding the black money of the political leaders in India by investing in various businesses in Gulf. I have seen myself a gobbledygook hanging his photographs with sheikhs at every available space in his offices and warehouses in Dubai and Abudhabi to please the Arabs to show his alligience. Offlate these swindlers have reached a position where the Governments in India itself is making them its representaive on important business decision of the states. These people also have started to influence the Governments decision whether the head quarters of a public limited company should be in X or Y city. It is alarming to note that the Government is dancing to the tune of these naïve looking aboriginees. These black money Kings are the one who are apparently ruling the states like Kerala.

2. Judicial demi-Gods

Its alarming to note that even people who have emblazoned highest office in judiciary is alleged of dishonesty and fraud . The people who are supposed to uphold truth and justice have become mere instruments to help corrupt politicians evade retribution. Although they are provided with magnificent facilities and handsome salaries by the government, they extend their greed by taking shares of kickbacks and commissions from scamsters and swindlers. These people never get punished like their political counterparts in this country, even if there are ample proofs against them.

3.Ex-UN pin-up boy

Somebody in twitter wanted the ex-UN pin-up boy to be the next CM of Kerala; few responded thus- first let him spent time on his Lokhsabha constituency properly ! Working for a constituency is not attending marriages and funerals. It is about understanding the needs and aspirations of the people. It is about finding solutions to the challenges that are involved in the development of the place and it is about overcoming the impediments that hinder the development process. An MP needs to devote 80% of his time in the constituency. Unfortunately the man of this story is seldom seen in his constituency. If some voters still think that an educated sophisticated person can only change the face of this constituency, it is just a thought marred by hearsay. This person is apparently not much different from the former uneducated and ignorant pony tail MP in terms of performance. It is the performance that matters and not the looks or accent or education.

5 PEOPLE who earned respect by their conduct and dedication to their jobs in the bygone year.

1.Kerala CM Achuthanandan, who inspite of the non-cooperation from his own party took, bold decisions on Lottery and Smart city issues.

2.Gopi Krishnan, Pioneer reporter for unearthing the 2G spectrum scam

3.Chandan Mitra, editor, Pioneer for giving wholehearted support to the journalistic investigation on 2G scam.

4.V.T.Satheesan MLA, for giving Minister Thomas Issac a run for his money on the lottery issue.